Each Universe began as a way to talk about re-imaging potential ways of living life in order to feel happy and successful in our career. What we know is, nothing in our lives is actually separate from that process. Andrea and I have allowed ourselves to become a little stuck in the past few months. We’ve been trying to create content that fits into our definition of the type of site we’ve set up as “Each Universe,” and because of that, haven’t felt free to post what’s really been coming up for us (some stuff maybe seemed off topic)… pretty ironic considering the site was intended to be a place to post about what’s up in the process of figuring things out.
Our EU Facebook page has proven a good outlet for posting inspiring talks and links, as well as, little tidbits of our own wisdom (seemed less formal than our site I think). We have recorded hours of amazing phone conversations between others and ourselves, which have each been transformative in some way. We have written things or drawn things that have been meaningful. When it came down to it, though, we hesitated to post on our actual site a lot of times because we had an idea about what the site was supposed to be and for some reason it didn’t seem to lend itself to the type of things we were creating. At the present moment, EU looks like a blog. I’d like it to be a dynamic website. So, a rebirth of sorts is in order.
Each Universe is a resource center, a record of process that is alive and ever changing. It speaks to a holistic idea that a job or career or whatever word you need to use to define your life’s work is not separate from everything else we experience as a human. The people, who seem to love their work and life, express how what they do is deeply connected and rooted in expression of their inner self. Being vulnerable, present, grateful, experiencing meditation, ritual, heartbreak, unease, playfulness, joyfulness, seeming success and failure… all of these things and more, are part of figuring out and being with purpose, so all of these things and more, are each person’s universe.
No more over-thinking for me (that is the effort, at least). I will continue to make connections with others on a soulful level, by connecting with that part of myself and be vulnerable enough to share it, and then be open to receive what is offered as a match to it. Yay! Exciting!
Part of this process for me, is recognizing why something is feeling difficult and then adjusting to make things flow more easily. I’ve consistently recognized moments where I feel the need to define what this project is, so that I could create work based around that idea. I know what my ultimate vision is, but not having certain things look how I imagined, caused pause in content output. There was a barrier created. I got too mental (something I do easily that doesn’t serve me well). I thought I needed to post some meaty piece of writing on the site each time, or it wouldn’t really be the work I had set out to create. An important revelation occurred during a recent conversation Andrea and I had… We can re-imagine and re-negotiate as many times as we want, in life, in business, in relationships, in everything. Our own role in Each Universe can be re-thought without diminishing the work we do, in fact, re-imagining creates expansion, and expansion is what we want.
Andrea posted a quote on our Each Universe Facebook feed that really helped me to understand that in giving something a name, you are attaching an expectation to what that thing is allowed to be.
“Words, no matter whether they are vocalized and made into sounds or remain unspoken as thoughts, can cast an almost hypnotic spell upon you. You easily lose yourself in them, become hypnotized into implicitly believing that when you have attached a word to something, you know what it is. That fact is: you don’t know what it is. You have only covered up the mystery with a label. Everything, a bird, a tree, even a simple stone, and certainly a human being, is ultimately unknowable. This is because it has unfathomable depth…Underneath the surface appearance, everything is not only connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all life out of which it came." ~Eckhart Tolle
Human beings have unfathomable depth. I love this. It sings to me. I unapologetically know this to be true. Each Universe is nothing if not about human beings, and so I am now creating the space for it to include as much depth as is humanly possible.
For me, right now, that means owning the roles of director and curator, finding a web developer willing to work with me to create a more dynamic site to house and be a spring board for all of the inspiring content, finding a sound editor able to create the podcasts I envision (for which, there are already hours of recorded material), posting some writing I’ve been working on about re-imaging education (coming very soon!), and re-affirming the general knowledge that any part of the process in figuring out what I want to spend my time doing is Each Universe. And so, will be shared, even if it seems awkward or scary to do so (and it definitely does sometimes—see Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability- there is a link below the photos).
-There is a difference between defining and actualizing. Defining is not necessary.
-Have fun. Be flexible. Be in love.
Do what you love, and I will continue to do so as well. I’d love to hear from you! If you read this and feel so inclined, I’d be honored to hear any comments, stories, ideas, questions, etc. that come up for you. You can email me at [email protected] or send Each Universe a Facebook message! http://www.facebook.com/eachuniverse
I’ll respond as quickly and thoughtfully as I can. Thanks!
PS- Below are some great links that have been inspiring lately and photos from Andrea and her husband Gabriele’s recent visit to Portland!
pixelskylines
titsay
blakekathryn
dailybridgerton
gummygunk
dededos